Our last few days in Asia were spent in KL - a chance to stock up on cheap products and souvenirs before our flight back with Qatar Airways (aside - Qatar Airways rocks, they have the best entertainment system we've yet experienced and excellent food).
We also performed the obligatory tourist task seeing the Petronas Towers, which do look very stunning lit up at night, and also popped by the Museum of Islamic art, which not only has some excellent displays but is also based in a fabulous building worth seeing in itself.
[to add picture of petronas towers]
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Sabah - Sepilok and Kinabatangan river
After the turtles, we were ready to see some jungle life. First on the trip was the Sepilok Orangutan sanctury. This place has been established to take young and orphaned orangutans from the jungles and raise them to puberty before releasing them back to the wild. Orangutans are amazingly human like, especially as babies and infants and want nothing more than a few bananas and a good cuddle.
Gradually they wean the infants away from reliance on the handlers and move them further out into the park to fend for themselves.
We got to see them at feeding time, swinging along rope walkways and generally monkeying about. They are very animated and you get to see them fairly close up.
Finally on our whirlwind tour of Sabah we managed to squeeze in a trip to Kinabatangan river. It would have been very amiss of us if we had not made time to see the real jungles of Borneo.
The river is the longest in Borneo and runs some 500km through many unspoilt jungle areas, and also some 'spoilt' jungle areas where palm oil plantations have plagued the landscape and habitats. We spent 3 nights in a fabulous riverside hut and went on daily river 'cruises' (aka rickety row boat with outboard motor) where we saw an abundance of wildlife (probably more than we saw in the Amazon). Top favourites were a brief sighting of an aligator and also the famous long nosed probiscous monkeys.
We also went on a night walk to see the local creepy crawlies (spider, scorpion, bat etc..).
As a special treat on our final evenings we were treated with some stunning sunsets over the river.
Gradually they wean the infants away from reliance on the handlers and move them further out into the park to fend for themselves.
We got to see them at feeding time, swinging along rope walkways and generally monkeying about. They are very animated and you get to see them fairly close up.
Finally on our whirlwind tour of Sabah we managed to squeeze in a trip to Kinabatangan river. It would have been very amiss of us if we had not made time to see the real jungles of Borneo.
The river is the longest in Borneo and runs some 500km through many unspoilt jungle areas, and also some 'spoilt' jungle areas where palm oil plantations have plagued the landscape and habitats. We spent 3 nights in a fabulous riverside hut and went on daily river 'cruises' (aka rickety row boat with outboard motor) where we saw an abundance of wildlife (probably more than we saw in the Amazon). Top favourites were a brief sighting of an aligator and also the famous long nosed probiscous monkeys.
We also went on a night walk to see the local creepy crawlies (spider, scorpion, bat etc..).
As a special treat on our final evenings we were treated with some stunning sunsets over the river.
Sabah - Turtle Island
Next stop on the tour of Sabah was a trip to see some of the famous aquatic wildlife around the island. We booked in to stay overnight at a Turtle sanctury just off the coast of Sandakan. The island itself is beautiful and makes for a nice day relaxing on the beach and a bit of snorkelling before the big evening watching the turtles. You can see various quad bike type tracks in the sand from the previous night where the turtles have flippered their way up to higher ground.
When the sun falls we all gather in the restaurant area after dinner and wait for the signal from the rangers that it is time to go - A turtle has been spotted tracking its way up the beach and is about to lay its eggs. We race off in silence to the beach where there is a very large turtle who has dug out a big hole in the sand and is busy popping out her eggs - this amazing lady pops out nearly 100 in the space of a few minutes. Whilst doing so, she is in a trance-like state and seems oblivious to the group of tourists quietly gathered around her. The rangers gather the eggs to put into the hatchery. Once the eggs have hatched, the rangers release the teeny tiny turtles to the sea, which we got to watch. This was probably the best part watching these miniscule creatures waddle their way down the beach to the ocean (although some immediately headed up the beach and needed a little re-direction)
When the sun falls we all gather in the restaurant area after dinner and wait for the signal from the rangers that it is time to go - A turtle has been spotted tracking its way up the beach and is about to lay its eggs. We race off in silence to the beach where there is a very large turtle who has dug out a big hole in the sand and is busy popping out her eggs - this amazing lady pops out nearly 100 in the space of a few minutes. Whilst doing so, she is in a trance-like state and seems oblivious to the group of tourists quietly gathered around her. The rangers gather the eggs to put into the hatchery. Once the eggs have hatched, the rangers release the teeny tiny turtles to the sea, which we got to watch. This was probably the best part watching these miniscule creatures waddle their way down the beach to the ocean (although some immediately headed up the beach and needed a little re-direction)
Sabah - Mount Kinabalu
It was with an unusual lack of preparation and research that we booked to walk up Mt Kinabalu. Perhaps we have become somewhat accustomed to every small hill in the US being titled with "Mount", but we had not really expected this to be anything more than a mere stroll.
We were very mistaken and became increasingly nervous as we realized that we would be going from sea level to just over 4,000 meters in one day, half of which would be by foot.
The mountain is a two day jaunt. The first day is a ceaseless climb from the base up to the cabins at 3,200m - this is the easy day! We were rained on heavily for the last hour and were very happy to collapse at the hut and fork out on expensive but welcomed hot chocolates.
At this point we want to make mention of what we referred to as the "evil monopoly" that runs many of the state parks in Borneo and charges extremely high rates and lies about hiking and accommodation options, forcing you to opt for more expensive all-in packages. This however was a minor budgetary irritation and should not put anyone off doing the hike - just be persistent with the booking people.
That evening we wondered if the rain would stop and allow us to make the ascent the next day at 2.00am - we were not entirely in favour of the rain ceasing !. However the rain did end and we were treated to an excellent sunset before bed.
The second day required a 2.00am start and a trudge in the dark by torchlight to arrive at the summit for dawn at around 5.30am. It was a wonderful experience and we were happy to return to the huts for breakfast at 9.00. However the worst was to come - the ceaseless decent of 2,000m on weary legs. There were many curses before we finally made it back down to the main entrance, and it took us many days of hobbling with sore ankles and shins before we could walk again like someone under 90.
Cameron Higlands - cup of tea ?
Up in the highlands between the East and West coast of peninsula mayalsia lies a nice retreat from the heat - the Cameron highlands. This is an area with lots of agriculture, fruit farming and tea plantations. We spent a couple of relaxing days getting back to our english roots having tea and scones and touring the Boh Tea Estate.
We arranged for a local guide to take us on a day hike through the highlands and had a rather spooky experience - at one point he stopped nervously and had us huddle together with Caroline in the middle, he sniffed the air and would not say the name of what he thought was stalking us... we could only guess that it was a tiger or too much fruit wine - at another point he asked if we new of anyone in our family that had recently passed away, he seemed convinced that a small ghost was following us on the path. Clearly the altitude and cool weather affects people in different ways !
On another day we visited the local butterfly and insects farm - we saw a lot of bugs that made us feel itchy and nervous, and some of the largest butterflies we have ever seen.
We arranged for a local guide to take us on a day hike through the highlands and had a rather spooky experience - at one point he stopped nervously and had us huddle together with Caroline in the middle, he sniffed the air and would not say the name of what he thought was stalking us... we could only guess that it was a tiger or too much fruit wine - at another point he asked if we new of anyone in our family that had recently passed away, he seemed convinced that a small ghost was following us on the path. Clearly the altitude and cool weather affects people in different ways !
On another day we visited the local butterfly and insects farm - we saw a lot of bugs that made us feel itchy and nervous, and some of the largest butterflies we have ever seen.
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